Sberbank, Russia’s second-largest bank, issued the country's first bitcoin-backed loan to one of its largest bitcoin miners, calling the transaction a pilot and suggesting it was keen to issue more in the future “We believe this product will be relevant not only for cryptocurrency miners, but also for companies that own cryptocurrencies,” the bank said in a statement. It did not disclose the loan amount. The bank said it used its own crypto custody product, Rutoken, to hold the bitcoin used as collatera ...

Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has issued the country’s first-ever crypto-backed loan. The bank says it issued the loan to Intelion Data, one of Russia’s biggest Bitcoin miners. It did not disclose the size of the loan, nor the amount of crypto used to secure it. “The loan was secured by digital currency mined by [Intelion Data],” Sberbank wrote in an official release. “We believe this product will be relevant not only for cryptocurrency miners, but also for companies that own cryptocurrencies.” As B ...